The Corn Islands Maypole celebration

This is a summary of a compilation made through research in books and interviews with local historians, musicians, and members of the community to document the history of the Maypole on Corn Island and to know how it was traditionally celebrated on the island.

The Corn Islands are among the first places, along with Bluefields and Pearl Lagoon on Nicaragua’s Caribbean Coast, where the Maypole celebration first took root. This article explores the origins and evolution of the celebration on the islands, highlighting local traditions and the key figures who have helped shape this colourful tradition.

The Maypole celebration arrived on the island with the presence of English settlers, who occupied much of the eastern coast of Central America from the early 1600s until the late 1800s. Along with the forced arrival of enslaved Africans, these settlers also brought many of the customs and traditions they celebrated in Europe.

In medieval Europe, the Maypole was traditionally celebrated on the first of May to welcome spring and honour the gods of nature. In countries like the United Kingdom and Estonia, this day became known as May Day. Across various cultures and ancient civilisations, the changing of the seasons was also marked by festivities dedicated to nature deities. For instance, the Romans worshipped Flora, the Greeks honoured Maia, the Yoruba people in Nigeria venerated Oshun, the West African tribes Hare Ke, and the Egyptians revered Isis. All of these deities were associated with nature, renewal, and fertility. Most of these beliefs come from pagan Celtic religions. Native Americans and Oceanians also worshipped their own fertility and the gods of nature. This was very common before the spread of Christianity.

Although the core principles and beliefs behind this celebration were present in many ancient civilisations, the version of the Maypole we know today is clearly influenced by European traditions, particularly in the way it is celebrated. However, it has adopted many elements of African culture, especially from West Africa, such as rhythmic music and the use of strong, vivid colours. While the British helped spread this celebration to the territories they occupied, some historians argue that its roots can be traced back to Africa centuries earlier.

The beginning of Maypole on the islands

Long before the abolition of slavery in 1841, Maypole was already being celebrated on Corn Island. Oral tradition says that the first Maypole dance on the island took place atop Mount Pleasant, around a large tree with yellow flowers. Although the name of the tree has been lost to time, what is known is that it eventually disappeared due to the many storms and hurricanes that have struck the island over the years.

The first participants in this dance were enslaved men and women who either brought the tradition from Jamaica or inherited it there. In Jamaica, the British practised the Maypole celebration, and the enslaved people began to imitate it, adapting the dance by moving around a tree rather than the European-style pole adorned with colourful ribbons.

After the abolition of slavery in 1841, over time, both Black and white islanders—and their descendants—began celebrating Maypole together. This blending of traditions reflected the process of transculturation that gave rise to the Creole identity and marked the transformation of what was once a purely medieval European festival—or even an ancestral ritual in many pre-Christian societies—into one of the most symbolic and culturally rich celebrations on the islands and Caribbean of Nicaragua. 

A tree or a pole with ribbons?

Like many Caribbean communities in Nicaragua, the Maypole is danced around a tree and not around a pole with ribbons, as it is danced in Europe and many Caribbean countries such as Grenada, Jamaica, and Cuba.

In the case of Corn Island, according to musician Charles Hodgson, the bribri (also called inga, guama, or guaba) tree is the original for dancing Maypole on the islands, where a branch is commonly cut and decorated with seasonal fruits and bakeries such as soda cake and drops cake; no ribbons were hung on the tree or bags of candies, this practice was later incorporated for ornamentation.

When did it initiate, and on what days was it celebrated?

It started on the first of May with the planting of the Maypole tree, then throughout the month, it was held on weekends in different neighbourhoods, especially Quinn Hill, South End, Sally Peachie, and North End, since these were where most of the people lived back then.

Sometimes the Maypole celebrations were held "on the best moon", which would be either on a full or waning quarter moon.

At what time would the celebration begin, and what took place?

It usually began between three and four in the afternoon with traditional games such as Brown Girl in the Ring, Cacho, London Bridge is Falling Down, Down on the Carpet, among others.

The children were the main characters in these games and songs, then later in the evening, the dances were performed by the adults. The celebration ended at midnight with the felling or lowering of the tree, where everything that was hanging on it was distributed.

And the music?

Well-known Corn Islander artists like Vertic Hodgson, Becca, White Boor, Shubor Moses, Renald White, Lenny Downs, Peter Lampson, Rashfer Hamilton and Wilford Downs (Toto) were some of the local artist in charge of animating the celebration with live music during the years of the 1950s, 60s and 70s. All the dances were done to the sound of rustic and acoustic instruments such as the guitar, banjo, drums, etc.

Many of these artists were from Sally Peachie, thus the name of that neighbourhood, which, among other things, means "joy, party or happy...".

In the past, during the Maypole celebrations, there were also songwriting contests where the lyrics often focused on local events or celebrated well-known figures from the islands.

The songs were of the genres mento, calypso, and soca; the dances were combined with moves from schottische, waltz, and polka dances.

What were the traditional drinks and food during this celebration?

According to oral accounts, the locals drank ginger beer and tualbi (twualbi), a kind of chicha containing alcohol. They also ate drops cake, taro (cuoco) cake, coconut cake, soda cake, and sailor cake, among others.

Who organised the Maypole?

Since its arrival on Corn Island, it was the same people who organised it to share and celebrate the season when flowers bloomed and fruit crops such as mango, bribri, guava and pineapple were abundant.

After the eighties, the celebration was incorporated into the government's agenda and was eventually transformed, being the ones who were mainly in charge of organising it.

The original outfit was long dresses that covered practically any visible part of the woman's body, and the men used formal suits and not so loose or short.

The Maypole celebration was held on Corn Island to promote healthy coexistence among locals, creating a space for healthy recreation where local talent predominated.